The nation's 500 largest law firms grew their head counts at an increasing clip in 2018, driven especially by gains at the upper end of the list.

The number of lawyers in the NLJ 500 grew 2.5% in 2018 to 169,477, and the average firm size rose by eight lawyers last year to 339. By comparison, the NLJ 500 grew by 1% in 2017 and by about 2% in 2016.

Partnerships expanded by just over 1% last year, driven by nonequity partnership growth of 3.8% in 2018. Nonequity partnership growth was nearly 1% greater in 2018 compared to the prior year, while equity partnerships were effectively flat—attributable to ongoing de-equitization and attrition—but at a slower pace than in previous years.

Jeffrey Lowe, global practice leader of Major, Lindsey & Africa's law firm practice group and managing partner of its D.C. office, pointed to the strength of the overall legal marketplace and growing demand for legal services as drivers of head count growth last year. Lowe said firms witnessed "better [partner profits] results than we've seen since the Great Recession."

Total combined head count at the country's largest firms hasn't gone negative in nearly a decade, since the group (then the NLJ 250) slowed hiring and laid off lawyers during the financial crisis and its aftermath.

Last year, of the top 10 firms ranked according to head count, only one shed lawyers—Hogan Lovells. Three firms climbed the ladder within the top 10: Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Latham added 103 lawyers and jumped over Jones Day to secure the fifth spot.

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Kirkland's net addition of 310 lawyers accounted for 7.4% of the entire net growth of the NLJ 500 in 2018. The firm moved up 1 spot, supplanting White & Case as the seventh-largest firm. Morgan Lewis, meanwhile, eclipsed the 2,000-lawyer mark in 2018 and leapfrogged Greenberg Traurig to rank ninth in the 2019 NLJ 500. Morgan Lewis managing partner Steven Wall said the firm focused on building out its existing offerings in 2018, most notably with lateral hires in the firm's intellectual property, structured finance and corporate mergers and acquisitions groups. "Our growth is much more strategic in the mature offices and the mature regions," Wall said. "It's about building strength on strength."

Wall said the firm is comfortable with its existing offices but remained open to opportunities to grow. Morgan Lewis' largest office is in D.C., but its headquarters remain in Philadelphia, and it is Pennsylvania's largest law firm. Morgan Lewis' New York office is nipping at the heels of its Philadelphia office in terms of head count size, and Wall said it wouldn't surprise him if the firm's New York City presence grows larger than Philadelphia within the next three to five years. New York, unsurprisingly, remained the state with most lawyers in this year's NLJ 500. North Carolina and Minnesota each climbed one spot in the head count rankings. North Carolina ranked 12th, surpassing Missouri, and Minnesota leapfrogged Colorado to claim 15th place. One group that showed unexpected growth in the 2019 NLJ 500 was the category of "other" lawyers, which encompasses counsel, senior attorneys, of counsel and staff attorneys. This cohort showed a net gain of 1,171 lawyers—up 6.4% in 2018. That's compared to a net gain of 99 lawyers, or just 0.5%, in 2017. Wall said he has seen the number of "alternative track" lawyers increase in recent years, suggesting client demand for specialized, non-partner or associate track attorneys.

Overall, the 2019 NLJ 500 findings, especially at the top of the list, along with profit increases for much of the Am Law 200 (see The American Lawyer's June 2019 issue), reflect an industry enjoying rising demand and faster growth. The average head count increase—still in the low single digits—is a far cry from the 4% or 5% growth firms saw in the pre-recession period from 2005 to 2008. But given the ugly contraction that followed, there's something to be said for this year's more modest gains.